support foster youth — YOU CAN HELP
There are so many ways you can help children and teens in care. These are just a few ideas:
Individuals
Your contributions of time and money can make the difference.
- Become a foster or adoptive parent. Caring families are especially needed for older youth, siblings, and children with special needs.
- Mentor a young person. Research shows that children and youth with mentors earn higher grades and improve their relationships with friends and families.
- Hold a donation drive to collect clothing, books, toys, computers, sports equipment, musical instruments, and school supplies for distribution to children in foster care.
- Become a Court Appointed Special Advocate. CASA volunteers are trained citizens appointed by judges to represent the best interests of abused and neglected children.
- Tutor a child. Because they often must change schools or have social/behavioral challenges to overcome, youth in foster care frequently require extra academic support.
- Create or contribute to scholarship funds that help youth in foster care cover the costs of higher education or cultural enrichment classes.
- Become a licensed respite care provider as a way of providing support to foster families in your neighborhood.
- Donate to an organization that helps foster families.
- Host a foster child for a weekend, providing respite to a foster family.
- Help an older child or youth find an adoptive family.
Businesses
You can take the lead in making a better community for families, children, and teens.
- Discount or donate products and services for foster families such as dental care, health screenings, admission to entertainment and recreational facilities, gym memberships, family photographs, restaurant gift certificates, and more.
- Establish a scholarship fund for a young person who is making the transition from foster care to self-sufficiency.
- Become a career mentor to a foster youth. Research shows that young people with a foster care experience are vulnerable to unemployment and underemployment when they age out of care.
- Match donations from employees and customers (or allocate a percentage of proceeds from sales) during the month of May, National Foster Care Month.
- Offering vocational skills training, résumé writing, and interviewing workshops, job coaching, internships and part-time or full-time employment opportunities to foster youth who are entering the workplace.
